Asmund Bjørken (19 August 1933 – 29 January 2018) was a Norwegian musician who played the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

and

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

in the genres of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

. He was

self-taught Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning, self-study and self-teaching) is the practice of education without the guidance of schoolmasters (i.e., teachers, professors, institutions). Overview Autodi ...

Career

Bjørken was part of ''Harry Waagens Orchestra'', a central band on the

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

Jazz scene in 1949–53. He later had his own orchestras in Steinkjer (1956–57) and

(1957–). In the lineups was among others Karl Holst (clarinet and saxophone, 1957–), Kjell Johansen (drums, 1957–) and Bjørn Alterhaug (bass, 1966–). I. 1990 the orchestra consisted of Oddmund Finnseth, Ove Bjørken (guitar), Per Olaf Green and Rolf Skogstad. Foreign collaborators included: Bengt Hallberg,

Benny Bailey Ernest Harold "Benny" Bailey (August 13, 1925 – April 14, 2005) was an American jazz trumpeter. Biography A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Bailey briefly studied flute and piano before turning to trumpet. He attended the Cleveland Conserva ...

, Mads Vinding. In the 1980s he played in Egil Kapstad/ Rowland Greenberg Quartet, and since 1990 he has led own ''Asmund Bjørken Swing Sextet'', which inter alia Ove Bjørken, Bjørn Alterhaug and Bjørn Krokfoss are included, as well as Erling Aksdal (piano). He released the autobiography ''Spellemann, på gammel rutine og støgg mistanke'' in 2003, and a portrait of him vas put up at the Norwegian television channel NRK in 2003, called ''Asmund i Himmelriket'', by Andreas Lunnan.

Honors

*1972: Buddyprisen *1998: Nord-Trøndelag fylkes kulturpris *2002: Vågåfatet *2003: Verdal kommunes kulturpris *2004: Trondheim Jazz Festival honorary Award

Discography

Solo albums

*1976: ''Accordeon to my heart'' *1990: ''Gammeldansens Perler'', within Asmund Bjørkens Orchestra'' (Sonor Records) *1992: ''Pot's on'', within Asmund Bjørkens Sextet *1997: ''Jazz Accordion – My way'', (Sonor Records)

Collaborative works

*1979: Frösöminner, (ARC) *1981: ''Old news'', within Bjørn Krokfoss Oktet *1982: ''All the things you are'', with Arvid Genius

References

External links

Asmund Bjørken Biography
on JazzBasen.no {{DEFAULTSORT:Bjorken, Asmund 1933 births 2018 deaths Norwegian writers Norwegian jazz saxophonists Norwegian jazz accordionists Norwegian jazz composers Musicians from Verdal 20th-century Norwegian saxophonists